Health benefits of an adverse events reporting system for chronic pain patients using long-term opioids

Background: Safety data from long-term opioid therapy in the real world has been poorly studied in chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP). The aim was to design a pharmacovigilance data recording system and assess whether participation in this recording system improves pain management, enhancing patient's health status. Methods: A pharmacovigilance data recording system was conducted during 24 months. Data were self-reported by patients (pain, adverse events [AEs] and healthcare resources use) and physicians (morphine equivalent daily dose [MEDD] prescribed and suspected adverse drug reaction [ADRs]). Outcomes from patients with (case) or without (controls) suspected ADRs and cases follow-up were also compared with Spanish Pharmacovigilance System data. Results: A total of 753 patients were recruited in 897 visits. Fentanyl and tramadol were the most prescribed opioids, 89% with concomitant drugs, pregabalin being the one with the most potential drug interactions. Cases presented significantly higher pain intensity (VAS 67 ± 26 vs 59 ± 30 mm, P < 0.05), number of AEs (8 ± 6 vs 5 ± 3 AEs/patient, P < 0.01), polypharmacy related to pain (65% vs 34%, P < 0.01) and MEDD (139 ± 130 vs 106 ± 99 mg/d, P < 0.01) than controls. Furthermore, cases presented significant higher changes in pharmacological pain therapy due to pain, unplanned emergency visits and hospital admission than controls. Physicians notified 168 suspected ADRs mostly related to neurological or psychiatric events and 8% of them were previously unknown. Conclusions: This data recording system provided important information to achieve a better control of CNCP pharmacological pain therapy, improving patient's health status and reducing costs to the Health System

Un análisis estructural de una economía regional a través de matrices de contabilidad social: 1990-1999

Social accounting matrices (SAM) are an instrument that enlarges the information provided by the input-output analysis. These matrices study the intersectoral relationships of an economy, the behaviour of the consumers, the public sector or the foreign sector, as long as they complete the income flow of rent. In this work, we use the SAM for Andalusia (region southern Spain) 1990, 1995 and 1999, to conduct a structural analysis of the Andalusian economy by means of the «path analysis» methodology and a multiplier decomposition. With these techniques, we obtain the changes in productive structure and we quantify the influence of sectoral shocks on this regional economy. Finally, we also identify which sectors have most strongly contributed to the regional economic activity in the last decade.Las matrices de contabilidad social (MCS) son un instrumento que permite ampliar la información proporcionada por el análisis input-output al recoger además de las relaciones intersectoriales de una economía, el comportamiento de los consumidores, el sector público o el sector exterior, logrando así completar el flujo circular de la renta. En este trabajo utilizamos las matrices de contabilidad social para Andalucía correspondientes a los años 1990, 1995 y 1999, elaboradas en trabajos previos. Con dicha información realizamos un análisis estructural de la economía andaluza mediante la metodología denominada paths analysis y la descomposición de multiplicadores. Con estas técnicas obtendremos los cambios experimentados en la estructura productiva y cuantificaremos la influencia que han ejercido los shocks experimentados por cada sector sobre sí mismos y sobre el resto de sectores de esta economía regional. Finalmente, nos preguntaremos qué sectores han contribuido en mayor medida a la activación económica regional

Improving speech intelligibility in hearing aids. Part I: Signal processing algorithms

[EN] The improvement of speech intelligibility in hearing aids is a traditional problem that still remains open and unsolved. Modern devices may include signal processing algorithms to improve intelligibility: automatic gain control, automatic environmental classification or speech enhancement. However, the design of such algorithms is strongly restricted by some engineering constraints caused by the reduced dimensions of hearing aid devices. In this paper, we discuss the application of state-of-theart signal processing algorithms to improve speech intelligibility in digital hearing aids, with particular emphasis on speech enhancement algorithms. Different alternatives for both monaural and binaural speech enhancement have been considered, arguing whether they are suitable to be implemented in a commercial hearing aid or not.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under project TEC2012-38142-C04-02.Ayllón, D.; Gil Pita, R.; Rosa Zurera, M.; Padilla, L.; Piñero Sipán, MG.; Diego Antón, MD.; Ferrer Contreras, M.... (2014). Improving speech intelligibility in hearing aids. Part I: Signal processing algorithms. Waves. 6:61-71. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/57901S6171

Improving speech intelligibility in hearing aids. Part II: Quality assessment

[EN] Subjective tests are the most reliable methods for quantifying the perceived speech intelligibility, but the process to perform these tests usually is time consuming and cost expensive. For this reason, different objective measures have been proposed in the literature to evaluate the intelligibility and/or quality of speech in such a way that cooperation of human listeners is not necessary. In this paper, we describe a wide range of subjective tests reported in the literature, focusing on those proposed to evaluate speech intelligibility of Spanish language, not only for normal hearing listeners, but for hearing impaired as well. Afterwards we summarize the most common objective measures of speech quality, and finally we perform a comparison between them and some subjective speech intelligibility tests. In the subjective tests, clean Spanish speech material has been contaminated with different real background noises: cafeteria and outside traffic noise. Results show that Short-Time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) and Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) indices present a better correlation and a lower mean square error when predicting intelligibility compared to other objective measures tested.This work has been supported by European Union ERDF and Spanish Government through TEC2012-38142-C04 project, and Generalitat Valenciana through PROMETEOII/2014/003 project. Participation of author A. Padilla has been supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Conacyt (Mexico). The authors wish to acknowledge Prof. Felipe Orduña for his insightful comments that contributed to improve the manuscript, and to everyone who participated in the listening tests.Padilla, A.; Piñero Sipán, MG.; Diego Antón, MD.; Ferrer Contreras, M.; González Téllez, A.; Ayllón, D.; Gil Pita, R.... (2014). Improving speech intelligibility in hearing aids. Part II: Quality assessment. Waves. 6:73-85. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/57900S7385

Deterioro de aleaciones de cobre por acción humana

7 pages, 8 figures. --Technical note.[EN] Results are presented from several samples taken from leaves of the Pardon Portico of Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, where an alteration on their surface was detected. Metal samples analyzed using X-ray microanalysis and powder xray diffraction were predominantly constituted by copper with some amounts of zinc attributed to brass, whereas other samples were also constituted by copper, tin and lead attributed to bronze. Surface samples were analyzed using the same techniques. In addition Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was also used.The main compound identified in all the surface of the leaves is copper chloride hydroxide (atacamite). Lead chlorides have also been found. These data show that the sudden alteration that appears may be attributed to the use of some cleaning product containing chloride. Other compounds detected in the surface were gypsum, quartz and oxalates coming from environmental contamination.[ES] Se exponen los resultados de algunas muestras alteradas procedentes de la Puerta del Perdón, pertenecientes a la Mezquita de Córdoba. Algunas de las muestras de metal analizadas mediante difracción de rayos X y microanálisis por energía dispersiva de rayos X estaban constituidas por latón (cobre con pequeñas cantidades de zinc), mientras que otras estaban constituidas por bronce (cobre, estaño y plomo). La superficie de las muestras se analizó empleando las mismas técnicas. Asimismo, se usó espectroscopia de infrarrojos. El componente principal identificado en la superficie de la puerta es cloruro básico de cobre (atacamita). Además se han encontrado cloruros de plomo. Estos datos demuestran que la repentina alteración de la superficie se puede atribuir al uso de productos de limpieza con alto contenido en cloro. Otros compuestos procedentes de la contaminación externa, como yeso, cuarzo y oxalatos también se detectaron en la superficie.Peer reviewe

Synergistic activation of AMPK prevents from polyglutamine-inducedtoxicity inCaenorhabditis elegans

11 páginas, 4 figuras. Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the online version, at doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105105.Expression of abnormally long polyglutamine (polyQ) tracks is the source of a range of dominant neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington disease. Currently, there is no treatment for this devastating disease, although some chemicals, e.g., metformin, have been proposed as therapeutic solutions. In this work, we show that metformin, together with salicylate, can synergistically reduce the number of aggregates produced after polyQ expression in Caenorhabditis elegans. Moreover, we demonstrate that incubation polyQ-stressed worms with low doses of both chemicals restores neuronal functionality. Both substances are pleitotropic and may activate a range of different targets. However, we demonstrate in this report that the beneficial effect induced by the combination of these drugs depends entirely on the catalytic action of AMPK, since loss of function mutants of aak-2/AMPKα2 do not respond to the treatment. To further investigate the mechanism of the synergetic activity of metformin/salicylate, we used CRISPR to generate mutant alleles of the scaffolding subunit of AMPK, aakb-1/AMPKβ1. In addition, we used an RNAi strategy to silence the expression of the second AMPKβ subunit in worms, namely aakb-2/AMPKβ2. In this work, we demonstrated that both regulatory subunits of AMPK are modulators of protein homeostasis. Interestingly, only aakb-2/AMPKβ2 is required for the synergistic action of metformin/salicylate to reduce polyQ aggregation. Finally, we showed that autophagy acts downstream of metformin/salicylate-related AMPK activation to promote healthy protein homeostasis in worms.We thank the CGC, funded by the NIH Office of ResearchInfrastructure Programs (P40 OD010440), for worm strains. [...] RPVMis aMiguel Servet type IIresearcher (CPII16/00004) funded by Institutode Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, Madrid, Spain). Grants from the ISCIII wereused to perform this work (PI14/00949 and PI17/00011). All grantsfrom ISCIII are co-financed by the European Development RegionalFund”A way to achieve Europe”(ERDF). JBY holds a grant from theGeneralitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2019/249). Some equipment used in this work has been funded in partnershipbetween the Generalitat Valenciana (Conselleria de Sanitat I SalutPública, Valencian Community, Spain) and European Funds (ERDF/FSE), through the call "Improvement of research infrastructures for rarediseases”CV FEDER 2014-2020. This work has been partially supportedby a grant from the Fundació Telemarató de la TV3 (Reference 559),which covered the work of MDS. The funds from the ISCIII are partiallysupported by the European Regional Development Fund. RPVM is also aMarie Curie fellow (CIG322034, EU). This work has been partiallysupported by a grant from the CIBERER (ACCI2016), a grant from theFundación Ramón Areces (CIVP19S8119) and anAyuda Miguel Gilgrantto RPVM (VII Convocatoria Ayudas a la Investigación MHER, 2019Peer reviewe

[(7-chloroquinolin-4-yl)amino]acetophenones and their copper(II) derivatives

The synthesis of the compounds [(7-chloroquinolin-4-yl)amino]acetophenones (4, 5) and their copper(II) complexes (4a, 5a) is reported. The compounds were characterized using a wide range of spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques, such as FTIR, UV-vis, NMR, EPR, ESI-CID-MS2. The spectral results suggested that the ligand acted as chelating species coordinating the metal through the endocyclic nitrogen of the quinoline ring in both complexes, with general formulae ex pressed in two ways, according to the phase in which they are: [Cu(L)2Cl2] for solid phase and [Cu(L)2][2Cl] for liquid phase. The EPR study of the Cu (II) complexes indicated a probable distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry. This result was confirmed by the calculated optimized structures at the DFT/B3LYP method with the 6-31G (d,p) basis set. The characterization of the fragmentation pattern of protonated free ligands was extended here to fragments as low as m/z 43, while for coordination complexes it extends to fragments at m/z 80 and m/z 111. The antimalarial activity of the compounds was determined through three different tests: inhibitory activity against in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum (W2), inhibition of hemozoin formation (β-hematin) and in vitro inhibitory activity against recombinant falcipain-2, where compound 5 showed considerable activity. However, the activity of free ligands against P. falciparum was increased by complexing with the Cu (II) metal ion. The values of the HOMO-LUMO energy gap of 3.847 eV (4a) and 3.932 eV (5a) were interpreted with high chemical activity and thus, could influence on biological activity. In both compounds, the total electron density surface mapped with electrostatic po tential clearly revealed the presence of high negative charge on the Cu atom. Also, this study reported the molecular docking of free ligands (4, 5) using software package ArgusLab 4.0.1. The results revealed the importance of water molecules as interaction bridges through hydrogen bonds between free ligands and β-hematin; at the same time, the hypothesis that π–π interaction between quinoline derivatives and the electronic system of hematin governs the formation of adducts was confirmed

Centaurea ×masfitensis, nothosp. nov. (sect. Seridia (Juss.) DC., Asteraceae)

[ES] Se describe el nuevo híbrido Centaurea ×masfitensis nothosp. nov., generado artificialmente mediante el cruzamiento inducido entre C. aspera L. y C. gentilii Braun-Blanquet & Maire (sect. Seridia (Juss.) DC., Asteraceae). Este híbrido ha sido creado en las instalaciones del Centro para la Investigación y la Experimentación Forestal de la Generalitat Valenciana, para el desarrollo de estudios de poliploidía e hibridación entre especies el género Centaurea realizados por el Departamento de Ecosistemas Agroforestales y el Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo de la Universitat Politècnica de València (España).[EN] Centaurea ×masfitensis, nothosp. nov. (sect. Seridia (Juss.) DC., Asteraceae). A new hybrid, Centaurea × masfitensis nothosp. nov., artificially created by the induced crossing between C. aspera L. and C. gentilii Braun-Blanquet & Maire (sect. Seridia (Juss.) DC., Asteraceae) is described. This hybrid has been generated at the Center of Forestry Research and Experimentation of the Generalitat Valenciana, for the development of studies of polyploidy and hybridization among species of the genus Centaurea developed by the Department of Agroforestry Ecosystems and the Mediterranean Agroforestry Institute of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain).Gracias a los compañeros del CIEF (Inmaculada Ferrando-Pardo, Francisco J. Albert, Víctor Martínez, Bernat Plana) por la ayuda prestada en el estudio de la germinación de las semillas y el cultivo de las plantas.Ferrer-Gallego, PP.; Benavent, D.; Ferriol Molina, M.; Garmendia, A.; Merle Farinós, HB. (2020). Centaurea ×masfitensis, nothosp. nov. (sect. Seridia (Juss.) DC., Asteraceae). Flora Montibérica. 78:17-23. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/16418017237

Design of a UMTS/GPRS Assisted Mesh Network (UAMN)

Wireless Mesh or multi-hop networks (WMNs) are well known thanks to its simplicity on deployment and the lack of infrastructure. These two advantages come with some drawbacks. WMNs have limitations with the support of Quality of Service (QoS), they do not assure coverage or even connectivity, and security, management and monitoring are not considered key requirements. In order to benefit of mesh networks and use them as an operator graded network, it is necessary to either improve mesh networks to fulfill all these requirements or use an alternative network that offers full availability, connectivity and security to assist the mesh network. Considering the two options, the second is the one selected making use of GPRS/UMTS as an assistant network. The document describes a set of requirements and the design of the functionalities needed to build an operator graded network using the cellular GPRS/UMTS. The aspects covered in the design are: security, quality of service, mobility, self configuration and optimization. The last point, optimization, is not directly involved with mesh networking, but it is an improvement easy to achieve when using a gateway node to access the Internet through a GPRS/UMTS connection. The design of the solution not only considers functionality, but also feasibility employing of the shelve elements. The mesh nodes and gateways are built on top of Linux operating system with the aim to reuse previous results and open source software. The final objective of the project is to build a usable system to be used as a proof of concept.Peer Reviewe

Calorie Restriction Improves Physical Performance and Modulates the Antioxidant and Inflammatory Responses to Acute Exercise

Our aim was to characterize the effects of calorie restriction on the anthropometric characteristics and physical performance of sportsmen and to evaluate the effects of calorie restriction and acute exercise on mitochondria energetics, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Twenty volunteer taekwondo practitioners undertook a calorie restriction of 30–40% on three alternate days a week for one month. Eleven volunteer sportsmen participated as controls. Both groups performed an energy efficiency test to evaluate physical performance, and samples were taken before and after exercise. The total weight of participants significantly decreased (5.9%) after calorie restriction, while the efficiency of work and the contributions of fat to obtain energy were enhanced by calorie restriction. No significant differences induced by acute exercise were observed in individual non-esterified fatty acid percentage or oxidative stress markers. Calorie restriction downregulated the basal gene expression of nitric oxide synthase, antioxidant enzymes, mitochondrial uncoupling proteins, and repairing stress proteins, but it enhanced the expression of sirtuins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In conclusion, one month of calorie restriction decreases body weight and increases physical performance, enhancing energy efficiency, moderating the antioxidant and inflammatory basal gene expression, and influencing its response to acute exercise.This research was funded by Acción Estratégica en Salud del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación DPS2008-07033-C03-03, Program of Promotion of Biomedical Research and Health Sciences, Projects 11/01791, Red Predimed-RETIC RD06/0045/1004, CIBEROBN CB12/03/30038, and Balearic Island Government (35/2011 and 23/2012) and FEDER funds. X.C. was funded by a FOLIUM program of Institut d’Investigació Sanitària de les Illes Balears. M.H.L. was founded by APOSTD/2017/023 fellowship from Generalitat Valenciana to APS